


TMNTHSAU

by CrookedCat



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Drug Use, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2018-08-20 07:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8241496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrookedCat/pseuds/CrookedCat
Summary: The turtle brothers start high school - as humans. How did this happen? Will they be able to keep the secret about their past? How will they adapt to modern society? Why is the Japanese maffia in New York? Will they be able to keep their humans bodies? And will they survive until prom?





	1. Read the notes

**Author's Note:**

> VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!  
> THIS FANFIC IS A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT WHICH STARTED OUT AS A WEBCOMIC!  
> READ THE FIRST 7 PARTS OF TMNTHSAU HERE: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/98834527216/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-high-school
> 
> After a while I decided that it would take way too long to make it into a comic so I decided to make it into a fanfic instead. There may be some occasional pics and comic books pages that will tie in with the fanfic later on.
> 
> Pictures of the characters:  
> The brothers: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/132176982881/crooked-cat-edit-start-reading-teenage-mutant  
> April: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/99589700861/since-aprils-outfit-was-so-horrible-this-is-how  
> Casey: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/132179354911/read-tmnthsau-here-i-even-sketched-a-quick-casey  
> Karai: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/97413528976/edit-start-reading-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles  
> The Shredder/Oroki Saki: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/100692106876/well-well-who-might-this-be-sorry-ive-been-so  
> http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/102224060201/figuring-out-how-oroku-saki-should-look-behind-the
> 
> Check out the TMNTHSAU tag on my tumblr for a bit more content: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/search/tmnthsau
> 
> TMNTHSAU stands for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles High School Alternative Universe" (I'm really not proud of that name, maybe it will change in the future).  
> \------------  
> English is not my native language

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!  
THIS FANFIC IS A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT WHICH STARTED OUT AS A WEBCOMIC!  
READ THE FIRST 7 PARTS OF TMNTHSAU HERE: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/98834527216/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-high-school

The fanfic will start in the next chapter but you HAVE to read the first 7 parts of the comic or else you will be really confused ^  
The comic is very short so don't worry.


	2. Invisible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not even a whole week into their new life as high schoolers has gone by and Leo's already struggling to fit in, while Mikey gets a facebook profile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!  
> THIS FANFIC IS A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT WHICH STARTED OUT AS A WEBCOMIC!  
> READ THE FIRST 7 PARTS OF TMNTHSAU HERE: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/98834527216/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-high-school  
> \--------------------
> 
> NOTES FOR CHAPTER 2!
> 
> Most of these parts very already sketches in Photoshop for me to finish but I decided to turn it into a fanfic instead since I neither have the time nor talent to run a web comic. There’s also a “deleted” scene of Mikey discovering internet memes which was scrapped because it didn’t really work in written text. Raph and Leo’s conversation also had a funny twist at the end but my lettering had disappeared so I don’t remember it completely. Something about that Raph skipped homework and Leo promised not to tell Splinter about it. And I know some people are tired of the “Donnie crushing on April” thing but I’ve always liked it.
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> After a while I decided that it would take way too long to make it into a comic so I decided to make it into a fanfic instead. There may be some occasional pics and comic books pages that will tie in with the fanfic later on.
> 
> Pictures of the characters:  
> The brothers: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/132176982881/crooked-cat-edit-start-reading-teenage-mutant  
> April: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/99589700861/since-aprils-outfit-was-so-horrible-this-is-how  
> Casey: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/132179354911/read-tmnthsau-here-i-even-sketched-a-quick-casey  
> Karai: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/97413528976/edit-start-reading-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles  
> The Shredder/Oroki Saki: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/100692106876/well-well-who-might-this-be-sorry-ive-been-so  
> http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/102224060201/figuring-out-how-oroku-saki-should-look-behind-the
> 
> Check out the TMNTHSAU tag on my tumblr for a bit more content: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/search/tmnthsau
> 
> TMNTHSAU stands for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles High School Alternative Universe" (I'm really not proud of that name, maybe it will change in the future).
> 
> English is not my native language

”Urgh, I don’t understand anything!” The girl with the blonde hair whose name Leo hadn’t learned was throwing herself back in her chair and moaning.  
“It’s pretty simple. If you read the end of chapter 3 they-” he said and proceed to point to his own note book when she instead turned around and started talking to a classmate behind her. Leo silently grit his teeth but it’s not like this was a situation that was unknown to him. But the group for this assignment seemed more interested in their phones or doodling or talking or doing anything at all that wasn’t school work. Basically no one had done the slightest attempt to talk about the assignment, or with Leo for that matter. As he grew more irritated when they all started to watch something on the blonde girls phone he decided to take action and slammed his book shut, making the group silent and turn their heads to him.  
“Ok, let’s do it like this: if we hurry up and split the questions between us we can finish this in 10 minutes tops and then we can get to lunchbreak much earlier” The group just looked at him and Leo couldn’t help letting a self-pleasing grin escape his lips.  
”And who made you leader?” The snorted with laughter so loud that the teacher had to tell them to shut it. Leo’s brother’s said the same thing, especially Raph questioned his leadership. But that was different, he knew his brothers love him. Leo thought about the fact that he never really interacted with anyone except his family. He’d studied humans, he’d watched them for years on TV and read books about them, but the never really understood it. When he was actually outside in real life he realized it wasn’t the same thing. And even when he fought with his brothers, sensei was almost always on his side. Which made him sure he was mostly right. But this was so different. As his face grew redder he tried to hide it in his book while his assignment group got back to their own business. This wasn’t about doing or saying what was right, essentially, but what was right in the social context. In which he had none.

 

”What even is this food anyway?” Amir said as he poked the colorless goo around on his plate.  
“Shut up, it’s delicious” Isabella said and demonstrative showed a big spoon of the white jellylike fish into her mouth while Amir grimaced. Mikey just smiled, he was still in 7th heaven. He was actually hanging out with humans. Real life humans and they weren’t his family. And they seemed to already accept him. He first talked to Jessica when she shared her book with him in and had insisted on him eating lunch with her that day. That was only 2 days ago but when they met in the corridor it had seemed so natural that he just fell into their rhythm. He also shared classes with most of them except Stephan who was a year younger.  
”Smile!” Jessica said and suddenly there were a phone in Mikey’s face and he saw himself and Jessica smile back from the screen. She took a closer look and smiled.  
”Look how cute we are! Add me so I can tag you” she said and gave the phone to Mikey who froze and slowly took it.  
”Oh um… I don’t…” She looked at him a bit questioning and he pushed her phone back. ”Let me just add you later. My pages have been acting up, if you send a request I won’t be able to see it”  
“Yeah, facebook does that sometimes”. She seemed to accept his reason and he internally exhaled. He felt as if he was still living some sort of lie, that he had to be careful so that nobody found out that he and his family was just a fraud.  
“But that’s not gonna happen” he thought to himself. “That life is over and I’m never going back, this is my life now”. 

 

Leo sat down hard on his chair in the school cafeteria. Donnie had just entered and, just like Leo had done earlier, looked over at the table where Mikey sat with his gang before steering towards Leo’s table.  
“You would not believe what a day I’ve had” Leo said and put his face in his hands as Donnie sat down.  
“That’s what you get for picking psychology” was the answer he got from his brother. “My biology class was much more giving” Leo glared at Donnie through his fingers.  
“It wasn’t the subject it was the people”  
“Well, what did we tell you?” Donnie said with a mocking voice that Leo really didn’t want to hear right now.  
“Wow, you’re so compassionate thanks” he just said as bitterly as he could and took a spoon full of fish and put it in his mouth. It was completely tasteless.  
“I’m sorry, it was just a bit ironic” Donnie said but he sounded sincere. “What did they do?”  
“Well… nothing I guess. Nothing on the assignment, I had to do all of it myself”  
“Hmm, I don’t think you should let them use you like that. If you start out at the bottom of the food chain there’s a big risk you’ll stay there”  
“Gee, thanks for the advice, Einstein”  
“If you’re not nice then I’m not gonna be nice either” Donnie said with a tone which meant he was serious.  
“Sorry”  
“Let’s just eat” Donnie scoffed. “I may have to stay late today”  
“How come?” Leo asked out of habit but he didn’t really care right now.  
“I’m thinking of joining the school paper”  
“The school paper? Since when are you interested- oh yeah it’s that girl right?”  
“No!” Donnie said sternly but his whole face turned red. “Can’t I have a real interest in journalism?” Leo didn’t answer but just shook his head.  
“And Raph’s gonna try out for the football team. Maybe I should try find something too?”  
“Well, unfortunately they don’t have ‘quit-being-a-douchebag classes’” Donnie said in a low voice.

 

Raph was in much better shape than any of the other guys who was running around the football field. They were panting hard several feet behind him and he was barely breaking a sweat. He also thought he looked damn good in this tank top and some freshmen girls sat on the bench of the arena watching them doing their laps. When the coach wanted them to show how far they could throw Raph noticed another person on the bench. He was older than the girls so probably a senior, with a black mullet and eating chips from a bag while watching the try outs. After Raph had thrown and went to retrieve the ball he and the man’s eyes met.  
“Nice throw!” he said as Raph picked up the ball.  
”Thanks” Raph said and glanced at the guy’s letterman jacket with the big red RH on his left.  
”What do you play?”  
”Hockey!” The guy smiled so big at the thought that Raph could see him missing a front tooth.  
“Probably the best player in the whole school. Heck, state even!”  
”Wow, really? I've never played hockey”  
”Never? Not even once?” The Mullet looked chocked by this fact.  
”Nope. Not even bandy”  
”Have you been living under a rock or somethin'?” The man stroked his chin, which needed shaving, and then pulled out his hand. ”Casey Jones” Raph took it and it was warm and a bit sticky from the chips.  
”Raphael”  
”Raphael? What kind of a name is that?” Casey snorts, but not in a mean way that would usually make Raph tick.  
”You can call me Raph” he just said instead.  
”Well, Raph, with that throw I'm sure they'll want to recruit you to the baseball-”  
”Hey, Jones!” They turned their heads and saw two other guys walking by, also wearing jackets with the big letters on them. ”You know you're not allowed to wear that jacket after you've been kicked out from the team right?” The guys laughed and high fived as Casey’s face got all red and Raph can see him practically shake with rage.  
”Fuck you, Warren!” he screams as he jumps to his feet but the pair just ignores him and walks away. Raph didn’t really know what to do as Casey just stares at the direction of the jocks.  
”So what did you do?” Raph finally asks.  
”Nothing!” Casey exclamated. “Just... knocked some dude’s teeth out. He was provoking me! And hockey is a violent sport”  
”Uhum...” Raph looks over to the coach who’s signalizing for him to come back.  
”Whatever” Casey said and threw his bag over his shoulder. “See you later, dude”  
”Yeah... sure” Raph looked after Casey when he walked away.

 

Donnie tried to gaze through the gap in the door before knocking. He knew the students working on the school paper were supposed to meet here at this time but it seemed awfully empty. Suddenly she sprang into view, the girl he saw in the cafeteria. His heart skipped a beat as she sat down in front of her laptop with her face in her hands. He inhaled deeply and straightened out his back as he gathered the courage to introduce himself.  
”Um, hello?” he said as the slowly opened the door. The girl looked up and their eyes met.  
”Yes?” She said a bit confused.  
”Is this the school paper?” Donnie asked as he became aware of how high pitched his voice sounded and he cleared his throat and decided to talk deeper from now on.  
”Yeah, at least it’s trying to” the girl answered with a big sigh. “But lately so many have been dropping off, now it’s just me and-“  
“Well, I’m interested in joining!” Donnie was almost a bit surprised at his forwardness. But just him and her working on the paper together? It couldn’t get any better than this.  
“Well, great! Have you done any writing before?” the girl asked before adding: “No wait, don’t even answer that, you’re hired!” They smiled at each other and Donnie thought he could look at her at every second of every day and never get bored.  
”I’m Dona-Donnie” He was already a bit ashamed of his full name. Who would even name their child Donatello nowadays? Even in Italy? Or Michelangelo, Leonardo or Raphael for that matter.  
“The quadruplets right?” the girl said as she shook his hand.  
“Right”  
“I’m April” When he was this close he could see that her eyes were green with some golden spots in them.  
“That’s must be nice, to have so many siblings” A slow raspy voice suddenly pierced the air and Donnie almost jumped. A girl was sitting on a bench to his left and he had been so concentrated on April he hadn’t even noticed her. She kinda looked out into space with her eyes behind a pair of pink glasses.  
“And this is Irma” April said in a way Donnie thought almost sounded like an excuse. Irma shook Donnie’s hand a bit disinterested, barely squeezing it. “We’re the only ones left of the old paper gang”  
“I’m an only child myself so I’ve always wanted siblings” Irma continued on.  
“Is that so?” Donnie said and he saw April bit her lip to keep from laughing.  
“Yeah, I mean, someone to share everything with must be so nice”  
“Well, most of the time they’re just a pain in my ass” April let a snorted giggle slip out and it felt like the butterflies in his stomach had turned into piranhas that was starting to feast on his intestines. Irma mostly looked a bit confused.  
“He’s already making fun of me” she said a bit sadly. Donnie was gonna politely protest that statement when Mikey came busting through the door.  
”Donnie!”  
”What?” It was always like this, his brothers rushing in without any respect for his private life.  
”Do you know where the computer halls are?” And for such a trivial question.  
”Why should I kno- they’re by the library” Donnie answered a bit annoyed. Mikey didn’t even say thanks but just rushed away towards the direction he thought the library was.  
”What for?” Donnie cried after him.  
”I finally have a reason to get a facebook profile!” Mikey’s steps echoed through the corridor and Donnie quickly closed the door, not wanting anyone to connect him with the freckled maniac.  
”Who even uses facebook anymore?” Irma said.  
”Haha right…?” Donnie laughed monotony. He remembered Mikey had begged him to use his computer to get an email account back when msn messenger still was the main way of communication. Bu the stopped after a while, and when Donnie asked why he just said it only made him more sad because it was so obvious he was never going to meet any of these persons.  
”This is probably good for him” Donnie thought. “ Interacting with real humans. It’s what we’ve always wanted”

 

Leo rested his head against the cool locker door for a while, the sounds of students leaving the school was making it ache even more. He just wanted everybody to go home so he could be alone.  
”Hey Leo!” Raph suddenly leaned against the lockers besides him and Leo was actually happy to see that familiar face. Someone who he knew would react in any situation.  
”Hey. How did the tryouts go?”  
”Ok I guess… have do to something that’s not material arts” Raph said and glanced meaningful at Leo who ignored it. “And I talked to this dude who seemed like… a bit weird but kinda nice. Like us maybe. Sure he was a walking stereotype of a hockey player, but still. Maybe high school actually amplifies stereotypes?” Leo smiled a little. If that was the case then his alienation would just get worse?  
”Donnie is signing up for the school paper” he said as he put his books in the locker and closed it with a band that he immediately regretted.  
”Really? I thought he was more of a -Oh Wait it’s because of that girl right?”  
”Yeah” The brothers smiled at each other.  
”Ha! I knew it” Raph said. “And Mikey already found a whole gang to hang out with”  
”It’s good you’re finding friends… meanwhile I…” In a way Leo wanted to continue that sentence but he wasn’t sure he was able to.  
”What?”  
Leo sighed; ”You were right Raph. I am socially awkward. I don’t know how to interact with people without bossing them around” His brother was awfully quiet before slapping Leo on the back,  
”Aw, common that’s not true! I would never accept that kinda of behavior all the time so you can’t be that horrible” He fired of a big smile but Leo didn’t smile back. “It’s just the first week, things will get better when we start to know more people. I mean, we basically haven’t existed in this world until a few months ago” The memory of the painful transformation flashed before Leo’s eyes.  
”Why don’t we go down to the dojo and train with sensei, eh? Blow off some steam” Raph said and led Leo out through the school building with an arm around his neck. “Like the good old days”.


	3. Witness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Change can be a blessing and a curse, and sometimes you just have to go back to what you know. But be careful who's watching from the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!  
> THIS FANFIC IS A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT WHICH STARTED OUT AS A WEBCOMIC!  
> READ THE FIRST 7 PARTS OF TMNTHSAU HERE: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/98834527216/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-high-school
> 
> \----------------  
> Notes for chapter 3
> 
> Since this part was not sketched for the web comic beforehand its structure is a bit different from chapter 2, and this is probably how the chapters will look from now on. The Hamato family live in a 3 room apartment that they've modified, so the brother's got their own tiny room while Yoshi/Splinter gets to sleep in the living room.  
> This is also one of the first times I tried to write some kind of action scene and well... I guess sometime have to be the first.
> 
> Tiny spoiler: It ends with a cliffhanger!

“Sensei, you know how I’ve always loved your beautiful kimonos?” Mikey was leaning over his father’s shoulder as he watched him doing his calligraphy. The sound of Raph and Leo’s playing Super Mario Bros 3 behind the folded wall behind him reminded Yoshi once again of his very limited personal space, currently totally occupied by his youngest son.  
“What do you want, Michelangelo?” he said in an unamused voice as he thought about putting up a real wall between his bed and the TV. The sewers smelled, but at least they had 5 times more space than this crammed 3 rooms apartment.   
“How dare you assume-! Well yeah ok, I want a computer” Mikey reached at Yoshi’s ink bottle but the father snatched it away. He knew Mikey would just spin it in his hand because he needed to have something to do when he was asking for a favor.   
“A computer? Can’t Donatello help you build one?”   
“He said he doesn’t have time now with school and that school paper and all. And you know, it’s hard finding an old computer screen which is still intac-”   
“Donatello is working on the school paper?” Yoshi said and thought that at least he one of his sons would probably become as a successful adult.   
“Yeah, but that’s not the issue” Mikey said, feeling his father was a bit spaced out today. “The issue here is that all our newest technology is from like… 2005, and I know times moves faster for older people, but that’s over 10 years ago now!”   
“It sure has been a long time” Yoshi thought to himself. “They were basically just babies 10 years ago… And still somehow less demanding than now”  
“But you know…” Mikey continued and glanced carefully at his father as he tried to sound nonchalant. “A cellphone is basically computer’s now. I could maybe get one of those instead?”  
“You have a cellphone” was the answer he got and Mikey tried very hard to keep a straight face. How hard was it to get this man to get it?  
“Yeah, from like the stone age. Or 2009 or something… I want a smartphone”  
“Don’t let him trick you, sensei” Raph interrupted from the other side of the thin paper wall. “He started out with a computer just so he would downgrade to a smartphone which is what he was really aiming for”  
“Raph!” Mikey’s face turned red and he gritted his teeth, reminding himself to punish Raph later on when sensei wasn’t watching.   
“Very clever” Yoshi said and chuckled quietly which did not amuse Mikey.   
“I can work double shifts as Brad’s pizza!” he said instead, trying to bargain.   
“Then how will you manage school?” Yoshi confronted.   
“I… can always aim lower?” Yoshi slammed his hand down hard on the table that all the brother’s in the living room jumped.   
“Absolutely not! The only reason we went through the hassle of getting you into that school was so you will be able to learn and study further!”  
“I’m out” Raph said as he threw away the controller on the sofa and went into his room instead. Leo thought about doing the same, the arguing in this family had only been getting louder since they lived in such a crowded space.  
“But I could take a loan out of my collage fund?” Mikey was still trying. “Phones don’t cost so much nowadays, please sensei!”  
“No! I didn’t take that horrible job at a dojo just so you could waste all the money on tech instead of college” Mikey moaned and threw himself on the sofa face down. Leo thought he was exaggerating and acting very immature.   
“I don’t think we should start using our savings just to buy some modern gear that’s gonna break in a year anyway” he said. “And if you get a smartphone then Donnie would want one and then Raph, and then of course I would want one too”  
“Who are you gonna chat with anyway?” Mikey said without thinking and both he and Leo looked a bit chocked at each other before the latter one got up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-, Leo-!” But Leo slammed the door to his room so hard that the framed picture of the Hamato family by the Empire State building almost fell down. Yoshi sighed and felt a headache start thumping in his forehead. He was too old for this drama.   
“That was very insensitive of you, Michelangelo”   
“I know” The sincerity in Mikey’s voice still made Yoshi proud. Maybe he hadn’t been such terrible father as the conditions would’ve allowed.   
“Is Leonardo doing all right?” he asked, turning around and saw his youngest son bury his head under a pillow.   
“I don’t know… I guess it’s a bit harder fitting in with humans that we imagined” Yoshi looked at his embarrassed son and felt a string of pain through his heart. After all the things they had fought for, going against his direct orders and suffering through the transformation and all they got was more pain? He was the most reasonable one who had understood that his sons might have trouble merging with their human lifestyle. He was, after all, the only one with actual experience, even though he’d spent almost half of his life as a mutated rat.   
“It is good that you’re meeting people and getting out of the house more” he said. “It’s what I truly want for you” He contemplated a bit before continuing. “Maybe I could ask for a raise in the dojo. But it hasn’t worked there for so long yet, it doesn’t seem custom”   
“No, don’t do that sensei. It’s just stupid. I’m stupid…” Mikey said.   
“No, you just want to get with the times and I understand and respect that. Unless you try and fool me again”  
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again”   
“It’s ok” Yoshi smiled even though he knew Mikey would break that promise. “I’ll see what I can do”  
“Thank you, sensei!” Mikey hugged his father who gave him a pat on the back.  
“Now apologize to Leonardo”  
“Will do!” Mikey jumped on his feet and went to the very narrow door which was a result of the splits the family had done on the two bedrooms. He knocked on it and called his brother name with no answer. He tried the handle and the door glided open with ease.   
“Leo?” But the room was empty. Mikey went to close the window which was wide open. And when he turned around he realized that gone was not only Leo but also his katanas. 

Leo took a deep breath, really filling his lungs with that familiar New York Saturday night air. It was a bit chilly and smelled of gasoline and new hopeful dreams. The swords felt heavy and right on his back and the ends of his mask whipped against his back. He was still getting used to this new body though, he felt so long and lean, not the compact muscle package he could feel like before. He looked out over the city from his rooftop when he felt something vibrate and he reached into his pocket and got out his phone. His phone, that was the first present their father had bought to them when they moved into their apartment 5 months ago. The beginning of a new life. One of them was a flip phone with a pink shell, and while Raph and Donnie refused to use that one, Leo and Mikey had to settled for it. Ultimately Leo got it and he remember telling Mikey it wouldn’t matter because he would probably use it less than his brothers anyway.   
“Who’d knew I’d be so right?” he thought to himself. He flipped open the screen and saw Mikey’s name appear in light up letters. He didn’t have the heart to click it so he just let it ring out. Maybe he should go home. What was he trying to prove? But just as he turned to get back to the apartment he heard a loud bang not far away followed by a scream. And his instinct took over and he turned around and started running. The blood pumping through his veins, rushing to all the vital parts, God how he’d missed this! It felt as if he was finally himself again and as he jumped from roof to roof until he stopped by a fire escape to listen. The sounds came from a gold store which was on the opposite house to Leo’s left. He saw a car in the alleyway with the engine running and quietly climbed down the ladder. As he tried to peak through the windows he saw a guy in the front seat, looking nervously left at the corner of the store. Leo didn’t see any weapon but couldn’t take the risk. One of the good things about being a mutated turtle was the built in bullet proof vest, but now his vital parts were so exposed. He quietly landed down behind the car. There were still screams from inside the store and he didn’t know how long he would have, but at least slowing the thieves down could help the police tremendously. Leo lay flat on his stomach proceed to crawl underneath the car. He took out his sword and looking at the reflection in the steel he crushed the right side view mirror. He then rolled around to the left side of the car as he heard the guy shout: “Who’s there?!” Leo threw the passenger door open and the guy who’d been reaching for the other door turned around but Leo was of course faster and grabbed his hands, dragging him out into the alley on his stomach. He saw that they guy was young, maybe even younger than himself, and it made him feel bad. The guy shrieked and wiggled like a fish but wasn’t that strong and Leo bent back his arms and sat on his back.   
“Please don’t hurt me! I’ll do anything!” Leo felt around the waistline and found a knife the threw away under the car. He then dragged his victim up but released him as he took a few steps back. The boy didn’t even dare to run and Leo saw the tears in his eyes and a dark spot on his pants that grew lager.  
“Go home” Leo said. “But don’t try anything like this again because I will find you” The boy looked at him in disbelief but finally turned around and dashed. Leo hoped the consequences for bailing on his buddies wouldn’t be too severe. But there was no time to think about that now. He jumped into the car and snatched the keys and threw them in a trashcan. He heard steps and turned around and saw that the companions had already arrived. They were staring at him in dumbfounded silence. Both were masked and had their hands occupied with plastic bags full of jewelry. Classic rookie mistake.   
“What the- ?“ was as far as the closest guy got before Leo hit him in his side with the flat side of his sword. The other one dropped the bags and reached for her back and Leo reached out with his left hand to keep the pipe of her gun pointing to the ground, and proceed to give the woman an uppercut with his right. The woman grunted in pain but her grip on the gun tightened and Leo used both his hands to bend the fingers so it came off, and broke some bones in the process. Leo hadn’t heard the first man fell down so he turned around and saw that he was getting into the car with the goodies. As he struggled to find the keys, a sharp katana was suddenly directly under his chin.  
“Get out” He followed Leo’s order and hold both his hands up as he backed ass first out of the vehicle. In the corner of his eye, Leo saw the girl struggle to get a knife out of the booth with her left hand while she was clearly right handed. It only took a light swing of his second katana to get the knife flying into the shadows.   
“Don’t bring a knife to a sword fight” he said and was quite pleased with the witty comment, the katana still pointing at her. “Get beside him” She reluctantly obeyed and slowly sat down on the ground between her partner in crime, grimacing over the pain in her hand. Leo tried to look into the car for something to tie them up with but couldn’t see something useful.  
“Look man, you can get half the jewelries if you let us go” the man tried to bargain which made Leo smile.   
“Now be nice and co-operative with the police” he just said and crushed a smoke bomb with sleeping gas in the faces of the crooks, who started coughing while Leo covered his face with his arm.   
“You look ridiculous, by the way” the woman said before nodding off. Leo made a mental note of not forgetting to bring rope when suddenly someone was behind him and Leo turned around with his katanas facing the intruder.  
“Are you done for the night?” Leo stared into the face of a brother who pushed his sword edge away with his sai.  
“Yes” Leo answered and put his weapons in the straps on his back. And he actually felt a lot better now.  
“Seems I was a bit too late” Raph said as he inspected the sleeping thieves that was resting against each other.   
“I took care of it”   
“Well, you should get home before sensei gets suspicious. Donnie’s holding the fort down by himself while me and Mikey came looking for you since you didn’t answer your phone” Raph took out his own phone and started to type. Now when the rush was fading away the melancholia settled it and Leo looked up at the night sky that was clouded by the city lights.  
“How could we give this up, Raph?” Police sirens where wailing in the distance and Raphs phone was ticking as the texted,   
“You know what the cost were” He just answered as he put his sai’s away. “For us living a civilian human life there’s too much as stake keeping this up” Leo sighed, thinking growing up may be harder than anticipated.  
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun and help out once in a while” Raph added and blinked at Leo who smiled back. They heard the sirens closing in and started climbing the fire escape in mutual understanding after years of training. To disappear into the shadows that they’ve learned was their home. 

April just stared at the night sky. She was fixating at the point where Donnie’s brothers had disappeared over the roof top on the opposite house. Slowly she looked down to see the car underneath her window with the robbers still knocked out leaning against it. She didn’t feel the tooth paste that had run from her open mouth down on her chest, and she didn’t feel that her skin was wet from sweat, but still cold. She just looked without blinking. What the hell had she just witnessed?


	4. Let's party!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is this party everybody keeps talking about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!  
> THIS FANFIC IS A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT WHICH STARTED OUT AS A WEBCOMIC!  
> READ THE FIRST 7 PARTS OF TMNTHSAU HERE: http://crooked-cat.tumblr.com/post/98834527216/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-high-school
> 
> \----------------  
> Notes for chapter 4
> 
> No spell check or reading through texts before posting in the middle of the night: we update like men!
> 
>  
> 
> English is not my native language.

“April!” The girl in question flinched. She’d been jumpy ever since last night, not even sure if she should turn up at school today at all. And now it was certain that she’d been exposed. Donnie, who was smiling as he walked towards her, knew that she knew and he was going to take her away to his brothers. They were gonna pressure her not to talk to the police and they we’re willing to do anything to keep her from-!  
“Hi Donnie…” April said in a weird squeaky voice she didn’t even recognize.  
“Oh, are you sick?” He looked worried.  
“Oh no, errm” April cleared her throat. “Just a little sore. Slept with my mouth open”  
“Ok, good” he said and then changed his mind. “Not that you’re sore I mean, but that you’re not sick”  
“Yeah, thanks. Well I’m off!” April said as she turned around and hurried as fast as she could, without looking suspicious, through the corridor. Her head had been spinning with questions all night so she’d barely slept at all. Mostly she was trying to convince herself she hadn’t seen what she thought she’d seen. She’d only met Donnie’s brothers like 2 times before and never heard them speak, she must’ve confused them with someone else. April was almost convinced of this when she finally fell asleep, but as soon as she woke up she was in doubt again. Maybe they were part of a gang? They were new to this school, maybe they’d been transferred because they were trouble? Then she saw one of the quadruplets, she thought his name was Raphael, talking to that loser Casey Jones by the lockers.  
“If they hang out with types like him, then maybe being in some sort of gang isn’t so far off?” she thought. She slowed down, still trying to not look suspicious as she wanted to hear Raphael talk, to convince herself it wasn’t his voice she’d heard last night. But it was mostly Jones talking.  
“And Angel was on my side, so it wasn’t just me being dumb. And then, when we talked about my grade in history, that son of a bitch brought it up again? I mean, jeez man just let it go already it was almost a year ago”  
“You want something?” 

April looked up. She hadn’t realized she’d almost completely stopped by the boys and now they were looking directly at her. And she had recognized the voice: it was the same on she had heard last night, she was sure of it. She tried to say something, an excuse maybe, she wasn’t sure, it just sounded like a strangled crow, and without thinking she just started walking away. She heard Jones say; “Erm… goodbye?” behind her but it got almost drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in her ears. Suddenly a familiar brunette with pink glasses stood in her way.  
“Hey, April, you know I’ve been think-“ April tugged Irma’s arm and dragged her with her to the girls bathroom.  
“What is it?” Irma asked as April looked underneath all the booths to make sure they were alone. When she realized they were, she leaned against the stall and took a deep breath.  
“What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?” Irma said in a disgusted voice and took a step back.  
“No I’m just…” April closed her eyes. “Just confused”  
“About what? Boys?”  
“No Irma, not everything is always about boys” she said, and she’d been wanting to say that for a long time now. Actually it was about boys, but not in the way Irma always nagged on about. A new guy every week that was Mr. Right but that she’d never even talked to.  
“Fine” Irma said and crossed her arms. April sighed and decided to swallow her pride, she needed a friend now and couldn’t afford this.  
“I’m sorry. I just… there are more important things you know?” she said instead. Irma thought about it but decided to be the bigger person, she always came through in the end.  
“Something happen to your family?” she asked a bit worrying.  
“What, no” April thought about how to phrase it. “I just saw something yesterday…”  
“Like what?”  
“Irma, what if you saw something that felt… unreal. Like it didn’t make sense” April went quiet as another student looked into the bathroom. When she saw the two girls she immediately turned around and went out the door again.  
“Like a ghost?” Irma took off her glasses. “I mean oh boy, before I got these I would see blurry shaped everywh-“  
“No more like… something that was possible but just… so unlikely” Irma went quiet for a while and cleaned her glasses in her shirt as she was thinking.  
“Then it sounds like you should trust your eyes and just accept the truth” she finally said as April internally did just that.

“Wasn’t that that April-girl?” Raph said as he closed his locker while Casey bent down to pick something of the floor.  
“I think it was. And she seems to have dropped her pencil case” Casey replied and put it in his back pocket. “Do you know her?”  
“Nah, but she’s apparently the president of the school paper and is so amazing, that Donnie just can’t shut up about her” Raph rolled his eyes.  
“Well, I guess she seems kinda cool, but that was right now was very weird. Maybe she got her period or something?” They started walking side by side in the corridor to their different classes. “I’ve only tried and talk to her once but she didn’t really seem interested”  
“Interested in what?” Raph smiled. “The trainwreck that is Casey Jones?”  
“Haha, very funny…”  
“I didn’t mean-?” Raph said a bit questioning but Casey just waved it off.  
“Nah, it’s cool man? Isn’t that what friends are for, roasting each other?”  
“I guess it is” Raph said and couldn’t help smiling. They were friends weren’t they? They’d only known each other for a couple of weeks but it felt like much longer. Raph couldn’t even describe the feeling of having someone he could actually talk to that wasn’t his family. Casey were his, and at the moment he wasn’t really interested in sharing.  
“By the way, did you hear about McGillies party tonight?” Casey turned around and almost walked into a handrail.  
“Should I?” Raph asked.  
“Fuck yeah, he throws the best parties! I went last year and it was wild! His mom isn’t home for like a whole week, and they’re not really poor if you say so, so there’s usually free booze”  
“Are we really invited?” Raph said and they both knew that he only meant himself.  
“I know the dude who gets the weed so we can probably sneak in” Raph looked around, a bit paranoid that someone had heard that. But even if they did, nobody in the corridor seemed to take any note of it.  
“This is my stop!” Casey suddenly yelled and tried to spin his math book on his finger but failed, and just very awkwardly backed into the classroom. He was often trying so hard it could be painful to watch. “See ya”.

“So, you’re all coming to McGillies party tonight, right?” Jessica said before she even had put down her tray on the dirty cafeteria table.  
“Duh, of course! It’s the happening of the year” Amir replied and the rest of the group started planning about when to be there, and if they were gonna meet up early for a warm-up party. Mikey had heard the buzz all over the school and he felt exited, but a tiny bit worried also. He’d only seen the Hollywood version of these parties where something important, and often devastating, always happens.  
“And the new guy is coming too” Jessica said and put her arms around Mikey’s shoulders. He just nodded and forced any doubt deeper into his mind where he would forget about it.

When he saw Leo in the corridor he couldn’t resist the feeling to walk up to him to rub it in his face.  
“Are you going to the party, Leo?” he asked with a big bright smile.  
“The-what?” Leo looked just a confused as Mikey had anticipated.  
“McGillies’s partyyyyy, jeez get with the times” he said and rolled his eyes for extra effect. Leo clenched his jaw, Mikey could annoy the hell out of him sometimes, especially when it was this obvious he hadn’t known of this before either. Leo were gonna reply with something snappy, but he felt a bit drained so he just muttered he had to get to class and left instead. 

He was still in a mood when he entered the classroom, and it didn’t really help that it was psychology. Since his fiasco the first week he was still unpopular with the other students and had to sit by himself as far back as he could, praying there wouldn’t be any group projects that day. But then he heard the boys on the row behind him talking about McGillies party and a familiar name caught his attention.  
“No, dude, you can’t buy that from him: Casey Jones is fucking crazy” a guy Leo knew as Lenny said and two other dudes agreed.  
“No, he’s just all bark and no bite” protested a little dude, in a white baseball cap the teacher had to tell him to take off in the beginning of every class. Then the boys we’re just talking over each other, barely listening to anyone but themselves.  
“I heard he knocked some guy’s teeth out”  
“Yeah, in hockey”  
“Have you even heard about his dad? " "Like father like son apparently" "I wouldn’t even touch Jones with a fucking stick”  
“He’s been drunk in school like, several times”  
Leo sighed deeply. Great, now he had to worry about Raph too. 

“Hey, I heard Roger McGillies’s gonna have a part this weekend” Irma said as she packed her notebook into her backpack that looked like it belonged in kindergarten. “Are you gonna go?”  
“I’m not sure I’m invited” April answered as she was searching through her bag for her pencil case. She wasn’t a part of the bullied students at school, but she wasn’t one of the popular ones either.  
“I made out with his brother this spring remember? So I could totally get us in” April had yet to go to a party where Irma wouldn’t made out with at least two different guys. She herself were mostly at the tip of that same sofa where this smooching usually took place, sipping on a lukewarm beer and waiting for the night to be over.  
“Well, maybe, I got a lot on my mind right now” she said as she wasn’t sure it was worth it to dance for only 20 minutes before Irma got tired of it.  
“Even more reasons to let loose and have a little fun!” Irma said and shook April’s arm and April knew her friend were right. And if everything failed, she could maybe get shitfaced to try and forget the whole thing about the night before. 

Raph were waiting by the gates for Leo since he had promised him a sparring after school. He waived at his brother when he approached.  
“Hey, are you going to the party tonight?” Raph had barely finished the sentence before Leo halted and almost yelled: “Why does everybody assume I know about this fucking party? No, I’m not going and none of us should”  
“Jeez, I‘m just asking…” Raph felt that tiny zing in his stomach, poking at his anger like only Leo could. “Maybe you should try to have a little fun sometimes, ya know?”  
“Getting wasted and playing spin the bottle isn’t my idea of a fun time” Leo said and Raph stopped himself from saying that maybe that’s the reason his brother still hadn’t gotten any friends. But Leo took it another way.  
“You’re thinking of going anyway?” he continued as the glared at his younger brother.  
“Well, yeah? It’s not like you decide everything I do with my life” Raph answered because now he couldn’t stop himself anymore. And it was the final straw for Leo too.  
“You know what? I should. Then I would decide you shouldn’t hang out with losers like Jones” Raph’s jaw fell open as his brother refused to look at him.  
“That was fucking uncalled for” Raph growled, clenching his fists. “What the fuck do you know Leo, huh? “It’s not like you’re making any friends here!” There, he said it anyway, but it was Leo’s fault! He pushed him.  
“At least I’m not hanging out with deadbeat junkies” Leo hissed quietly, even though it was clear he wanted Raph to hear it. The rage was now a roaring fire and Raph kicked the school gate so hard one of the hinges broke, before he stormed away. Leo didn’t even flinch.


	5. Make over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raph needs a fresh start and thankfully Casey is there to help him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just a detour that got ridiculously long but I decided to keep it anyway because character development and whatnot.
> 
> It's also getting closer to the party! But there will be one more short chapter before it's time.
> 
> EDIT: And this is what Raph looks like after the make over!  
> https://78.media.tumblr.com/6b7a463f8e008b0955662cd02f1cbf95/tumblr_nbof67GbwD1rpykl0o5_r1_1280.jpg
> 
>  
> 
> English is not my native language.

Casey watched as Raph went bananas on the poor defenceless trashcan so that its content spilled everywhere.  
“God, I’m so fucking tired of my family and especially of Leo! Always acting so fucking high and mighty, know-it-all and-!” The pair we’re in an alleyway a few streets away from school when Raph’s anger exploded and he had to wreak havoc. They weren’t supposed to meet up until later but Raph had texted Casey in anger in an effort to try and calm down. But now his energy was finally running out and he pressed his forehead to the cool red bricks in the wall.  
“I just need like… like a real re-start” he sighed,  
Casey thought quietly while he finished an energy drink and threw the can in a corner. Then the punched Raph’s shoulder.  
“Come with me” he said and dragged him to a clothes shop nearby. Raph didn’t even had the energy to question it and just stood by as his deadbeat junkie friend looked through the racks of jackets.  
“Try this on” Casey said and took out a black biker jacket in leather and held it in front of his friend.  
“Why? It’s not like I can afford it anyway” Raph answered but put it on anyway. He looked into the mirror and it felt like home. It felt like him, like his style. Since he’s been human for so short he hadn’t really thought about clothes or fashion at all.  
“Ok, tell me the price so I can get this dream out of my head” he said but Casey gave him a crooked smile.  
“The price is- run!” Casey suddenly grabbed Raph’s hand and started sprinting out of the store. Out of habit Raph just followed suit, so often following a shell with swords on it’s back when retreat was the only option. His eyes automatically searched for enemies but he couldn’t see anything suspicious. Casey dove into an ally on the right and fell down on the ground.  
“What? What is it?” Raph felt the familiar adrenaline pump through his veins. But Casey just laughed between the gasps of air.  
“That old man is so fat he couldn’t outrun a turtle” The naming of the animal put Raph out of balance and his stomach was filled with ice as he was trying to sort out what the hell Casey ment.  
“What do you mean? Which turtle?” he asked.  
“Don’t you get it?” Casey said and Raph saw the whole friendship crumble before his eyes. “The jacket is yours now” Raph hadn’t even thought about the fact that the black leather was still draped over his shoulder. He grabbed it as to make sure it really was there.  
“I used to go there a lot when I was younger, with Angel, stealing shit” Casey said as he searched his pockets. “Usually it was smaller stuff you could hide in a bag or under your shirt though, but this jacket was a bit too big” He took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. As he inhaled he raised his eyebrow and studied Raph. “Why do you look so shocked”?  
“It’s nothing” Raph replied, feeling his heart finally slowing down.  
Casey examined Raph top to bottom and said in a terrible french accent: “You need a re-ztart zo I’m gonna give you a make-over that will shock everybody at ze party tonight!”

Raph was happy. He felt a bit guilty of all the stuff he had hidden in his jacket, but tried to justify it by all the good deed he’d done with his brother’s in the past. And except for the jacket, that had been from some private store, Raph forced Casey to take him to big chain stores so they wouldn’t be scarred economically. The hair color that Casey was holding worried him a bit but he wouldn’t let that stop him. Casey wanted to get back to Raph’s place but since he refused, the senior finally gave in and showed the way to his apartment.  
“Let’s just pray the old man isn’t home” Casey said as the locked up the front door. He pretty much sprinted through the corridor which it littered with news paper and shoes and Raph tried to keep up. A deep man’s voice was coming through the left which must be the living room.  
“Arnold?!”  
“Ignore him” Casey just said as he continued up the stairs and to the left. He reached for the door behind Raph and closed it just as the man downstairs cursed a long set of swear words. Casey emptied his pocket and threw it all on top of his desk. Raph looked around the room which looked so much like Casey it was almost painful. The stained wall with the wallpaper coming off have been patched together with posters of old rock band and cut outs from magazines. The bed was messy and there were clothes everywhere. Raph stepped onto a dried piece of bread which pulverized underneath his feet.

”So... Arnold huh?” Raph smiled.  
”Oh god, please don't tell anyone!” Casey said in agony.  
“Promise”  
Casey laughed and then put his old wooden chair in the middle of the room.  
“Sit here” Raph positioned himself on the chair while Casey started to shake some flask with hair dye.  
“Have you like, changed your name? Legally I mean?”  
”No, I faked all the papers at school”  
”Why?”  
”I’m named after my father. And you've seen what a terrific human being he is...” Raph had gotten a glimpse of the empty beer bottles on the living room table. And the smell speaked for itself.  
“What about your mom?” he asked instead.  
“She died” Not telling when it occurred made Raph feel uneasy. Was it recent? Either way he could feel it was a touchy subject.  
“I’m sorry” he just said.  
“It’s ok” They were being quiet for a while and then Raph saw the package for the hair color on the table and he froze.  
”You're making me blonde?!” he cried out in horror but Casey just kept on working.  
”Relax dude, I got this. I color Angel’s hair all the time. And I got red dye too but we have to bleach it first since your hair is too dark” Raph wanted to keep on complaining but, uncharacteristically of him, he kept his mouth shut.  
“Sooo… are you two like an item or-?”  
“Me and Angel?” Casey let out a laugh. “No, no, no we’ve been friends forever. I mean, we’ve fooled around a few times but it’s purely a brother and sisterly love”  
“Yeah that didn’t sound like incest at all”  
“Shut up, or I’ll shave off all your hair!”

After the blonde color was done and Raph had gone through a very painful ordeal with Casey insisting on getting to pierce his eyebrow, he went to wash out the red color. But he stopped on his way to the bathroom and looked down the stairs where Mr. Arnold Jones stood and glanced back at him. He wasn’t at all what Raph had expected, he was huge, with blonde hair and a frame that told a story of endless hours at the gym. Even though the muscles were fading behind a beer gut.  
“What are you guys doing up there?” he asked. He spoke like an officer, Raph thought. Or Sensei. Like a leader.  
“Um, getting my hair done” Raph answered and wondered if he should introduce himself. But Mr. Jones just shook his head and muttered: “If that boy would ever do something useful…” before heading into the kitchen. So Raph just proceed with the task and when he was done he gazed at himself in the mirror. He still didn’t look that different, only with flaming hair, but Casey had promised to cut it too.  
When he came back into the room a beer bottle was thrown to him.  
“Bottoms up!” Casey said and opened his own and gulped it down but didn’t managed to drink all of it. Instead he burped loudly and Raph chuckled.  
“You sure you should be drinking and using scissors?” he said and tasted the luke warm beer.  
“It gets better that way, I promise”

“No, you can’t look yet”  
“Seriously?” Raph sighed but did as he was told. He looked at the red strands of hair surrounding his feet. He wondered for how long they would stay there before Casey actually cleaned his room.  
“Dude, have I ever let you down?” Casey said in an offended tone.  
“You have to start sometime” But Raph obeyed. He felt like the teenage girls from the 90s high school films that walks down the staircase without glasses and her hair is down and the love interest swoons. At least he hoped that he would look good.  
“Where’s Cindy Lauper when you need her?” he said and Casey laughed.  
“Wait, let me find her!” Casey searched his phone and soon Girls just wanna have fun blasted through a blown out speaker hidden somewhere under the trash on the table.  
“Yeah, now my dad for sure will be convinced we’re gay” he said and laughed as Raph heard the sound from the TV downstairs get turned up.  
“Unless you are?” Casey said, a bit curious and apologetic.  
“Nah. Or well… I guess I don’t care? Haven’t really thought about it”  
“Yeah, why should we decide anyway? Let’s not limit ourselves”  
“Right” 

Now Casey was putting some last styling products in the hair. He stood in front of his client to inspect his work.  
“Ok, now I guess you can have a look” he said but just as Raph was getting up he yelled “Wait!” and grabbed the jacket they had stolen. He put it on Raph and then pushed him in front of the mirror. There was a person staring back at him. An actual person, with an actual style done by an actual friend. Not a trace of someone living in the sewers, or someone that had been a turtle for that matter.  
The area around the piercing in his brow was still sore and red but it didn’t matter, it looked cool. Raph thought it looked cool. He thought he looked good, handsome even. And he realized that even though he’d been a human for a while now he hadn’t really felt like it. Until now. The transformation was complete.  
“Well?” Casey asked impatiently.  
“Thank you” It was all that Raph could manage to express. Casey just nodded and took another sip of the beer.  
“I told you I’m good”


	6. Assimilation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the Hamato home there are more preparations for the party happening tonight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a very short chapter before the big party!  
> (yes i suck at naming chapters tell me something i don't know)
> 
> * means it's japanese
> 
>  
> 
> English is not my native language

Both Mikey and Donnie had been at home and then left together for some big party that apparently was happening tonight. They had yelled at each other through the bathroom door to make the one inside shower faster, since they constantly forgot deodorant and hair mousse and whatnot in the cabinet. Yoshi was observing them from the living room in amusement. His sons looked so excited and he was glad they had made friends at school. That had been his biggest concern since they had decided to become human: adapt to the human world. But they seemed to be assimilate just fine, they hadn’t even asked him permission to go to the party. He realized that they were maybe too old for that now, and even though his dominant side was a bit upset, he suppressed that feeling and decided to just be happy for them. But he was still worried about his oldest. Leonardo had been sitting quietly on the balcony all afternoon, meditating. Yoshi knew Raph was going to the party (Don and Mikey had told him they were gonna meet him there) so why weren’t they taking their fourth brother? 

Yoshi decided to approach Leo after the others had left the apartment. He needed there to be quiet no temptation for the younger ones to join in on the conversation.  
*“How is the meditation going”   
*“Ok… maybe” Leo sighed, not opening his eyes. Yoshi sat down quietly beside his son. He crossed his legs and looked out over the balcony.  
*“Why aren’t you going to the party with your brothers?”   
*“I’m not interested” Leos answer was too quick, it felt rehearsed.  
*“Why not? You are young, when I was your age I went to similar festivities” Leo tried to imagine his father standing on his head, drinking from a keg but that image was way too bizarre. And American.  
“Well, then I’m not like other young people” Yoshi smiled for himself. Didn’t he know it?  
“Leonardo” he said. “You may think that you have everything you need right here, but if you don’t experience other sides of life there is a chance that you will stop growing. And you will never figure out other things you will need to fulfill your life” Yoshi was afraid that he sometimes talked to Leonardo too much like a grown up. “Do you understand what I am trying to say?”  
“Um… yes? I think? But…” Leo looked down on his hands. “Nobody asked me if I wanted to come with…” Yoshi sighed.   
“You know your brothers would want you there, but they are young, and a bit stupid. So sometimes they get tangled up in their own life too much to care about others” He patted Leos shoulder.   
“I guess you are right, sensei”   
“Of course I am right! I’m much older and wiser than you” Yoshi said as he stood up. “Now, I want to take a bath later so you’ll have to hurry up with the showering”  
“Hai, sensei” Leo smiled as he hurried towards the bathroom. But he stopped and turned around.   
“Thanks, dad” Yoshi just gestured to him to carry on. Having four teenagers weren’t the easiest task, with all their emotions and hormones running wild, especially as a single parent. But he thought he’d done an ok job, and he deserved some celebration. After all he would have the apartment all to himself.


	7. Trying new things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikey is at the party and he is enjoying himself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is so over-used and cliché I'm sorry, but I just love high school parties as a setting!   
> And I'm 28 and have never smoked weed or even a cigarette (my street-cred is so low, you guys) so I'm sorry for the cringeworthy language.
> 
> I know it's pretty short but I just wanted to post something and this part was almost finished anyway.
> 
>  
> 
> English is not my native language

The house was big, bigger than any home Mikey had ever been too. It was three floors and had a huge garden with a swimming pool! Nobody had dared to jump in just yet but some jocks had thrown in a less fortunate fella. But he laughed so Mikey hoped he had been in on it. When he and Donnie arrived (late, because it took forever for them to get ready) the party was already in full swing. The back also had a tall wooden fence so there was no one who could peek inside the garden.  
Mikey had kissed almost everyone in his group now and a few more strangers. They’d been spinning the bottle for almost half an hour. Everybody wanted to kiss Jessica since she was the babe, but she just giggled at the attention until the bottled pointed to Isabella. Then her face turned all red and the kiss was barely a peck (in contrast to all the others) but for some reason everybody held their breaths. The tension was eased up when Stephan joined their circle with a brown paper bag.  
“Finally I managed to get some! The store was almost closing but I got the last one” The group cheered as he reached into the bag and took out a sealed plastic bag with the green grass-like content.  
“No smoking in the house!” somebody yelled from afar but Stephen didn’t heard it or ignored it. People started reaching for their wallets or phones to transfer the money. Mikey was looking at Stephan who started to roll joints with one hand and receiving money with the other. He thought about that time when he, Raph and Donnie had found a pack of cigarettes and tried smoking them, not even managing one each without coughing until their throats were sore.

“Mikey, you want one?”  
“I don’t think I can afford it…”  
“The first one's on me” Stephan said and passed the finished joint to Mikey.   
“How come I have to pay then?” Amir said and pouted.  
“You’ve had plenty of firsts” Stephan responded.  
“No smoking inside the house!” For the first time Mikey met McGillies, the actual host of the party, who snatched the bag with the weed away from Stephan who protested loudly. “The smell will take forever to vent out!”  
“Give me back my weed, man!”  
“Only if you smoke it outside!” McGillies said and threw the bag on the floor. The group started to get up and move towards the door.  
“And do it on the backyard so my neighbors can’t see you!” was the last advice they got from the host as he hurried away to take care of another appending disaster.

The garden was full with people and the air was mild. Some were now enjoying the pool and someone was already throwing up in the bushes. Mikey’s gang sat down in a new circle away from the other partygoers as they were starting to splash water against anyone who came close. Mikey sat down between Jessica and Isabella who couldn’t really look at each other. He became painfully aware how he held the joint as everybody else was starting to enjoy their. The smoke filled the evening air with sweet and more pleasant aroma than the cigarettes Mikey had enjoyed with his brothers.   
“First time?” Jessica said as she provided Mikey with light.  
“Yeah” he answered quietly.  
“It doesn’t always have any effect the first time so don’t worry” she said and inhaled her own. “This is supposed to be pretty strong though”  
“Aren’t they all the same?” someone asked as Mikey put the paper to his lips and inhaled.


End file.
